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[Xbox-Scene]

Halo 3 Already Has Lots of 'Fans' in Japen - Literally Posted by XanTium | August 31 21:39 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From next-gen.biz: Microsoft has stepped up the Halo 3 advertising campaign in Japan, and as of two weeks ago, the company's been handing out flyers at major retailers -- though not just any kind of flyers: they're fans. (IMG:http://pictures.xbox-scene.com/xbox360/halo3/halo3fan.jpg) A fan is more of an advertising tool than a packet of tissues can ever be, making summer a huge season for foot-traffic marketing. When someone is flapping a fan near you on a train, it's hard not to at least glance at them. So even if the product advertised on the fan isn't something that the fan-flapper could care less about, someone in the vicinity might care. One side shows three miniscule screenshots of the game, and bears a simple-enough description of what the game is about. The tagline is sharp enough: "The year is 2552. The human race continues its fight against an alien race." They're giving it a low-key pitch as science-fiction. That's good. The ensuing description pitches the game's story as dynamic, and paints its scenario in bold colors. These are the sort of points they need to be hitting. And finally, they toss out the fact that the series has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide to date. The one big faux pas I can point out -- since you're just forcing me to be negative -- is what's on the other side of the fan: just a big numeral "3", in Halo font. Microsoft has taken out billboards in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and even at Akihabara's massive Yodobashi Camera, each of them showing the same swirling, cloud sky and the same ethereal numeral "3". Might I suggest that the Xbox-fearing nation of Japan is probably the one country in the world where you don't want to advertise Halo based just on a numeral? This is Japan, where a Famitsu poll asking "Would you like to be able to download movie trailers on the PlayStation Store?" was answered with an overwhelming "No", with one high-school student reporting in by saying "I think Sony should just concentrate on games." It's not like Sony's going to be calling Fumito Ueda away from his ICO followup to direct and shoot a motion picture trailer, for god's sake! Either way, it goes without saying that the average gamer here might not think about things in the most common-sensical Western marketing terms, and if they see a "3" in a font they don't recognize, all they're going to know is that they don't remember a "2" in the same font, and even if they do, they don't remember playing that game, so they shouldn't play the "3", because to do so would be rude. Full Story: next-gen.biz

[DrPepperFan15]

I agree. Bungie should enforce Microsoft to include the word HALO along with that "3" so people know wtf theyre seeing on those billboards and fans.

[proger]

A giant number 3? If I didn't know halo I'd think it was a sign that the world is ending (literly).  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[SuperStition]

Oooo neato, i want 1.

[BasicAir]

From a business perspective:

Nice. Great idea. This is certainly a cheap and effective way to market. It's not the greatest idea in the world, but it's pretty clever.


From a consumer standpoint:

Ugh. It almost gets annoying when everything in the world has an advertisement on it. Imagine our world without ads: Wouldn't it be great? I, for one, certainly think so!

[ILLusions0fGrander]

Ive never seen a franchise that sold so many copies based on hype alone.

i played the bland... i mean beta and i felt like i was playing halo 2.

[Software2]

QUOTE(BasicAir @ Aug 31 2007, 09:54 PM)

Ugh. It almost gets annoying when everything in the world has an advertisement on it. Imagine our world without ads: Wouldn't it be great? I, for one, certainly think so!

Said the guy with the Burger King king as his avatar.  

Japan can keep on hating all they want. I'm getting my Bioshocks and Halos just fine without them

[Punux]

QUOTE(ILLusions0fGrander @ Aug 31 2007, 11:00 PM)

Ive never seen a franchise that sold so many copies based on hype alone.

i played the bland... i mean beta and i felt like i was playing halo 2.

i think it felt a bit different but I agree with you on the hype.